siamese pants.

From Anna Marie Horner's book Handmade Beginnings, these are the Quick Change Trousers..

You can click on the photo for a close-up of the cute mushrooms and birds.

This is what they look like right after being turned, they are reversible and attached at the waist first, the other side is obviously cars.

I lurve them :) I also love the Handmade Beginnings Flickr.

Things to do....

...Other than sit on the internet! But alas, here I am.

I went to a traveling Dutch fabric market today! I forgot my camera, but just as well, I had a  huge handful of sleepy baby, a runny nose (the both of us) and a large bag stuffed with newly loved fabric-stuffs. It was wonderful fun topped with pizza :)

I've been very inspired lately by the internet, so I thought I'd share some of my favorite blogs, in no particular order:

Sew Liberated (Montessori adorable)

Made

Living Simply (Hi Lisanne!)

Anna Maria Horner (I'm loving her book)

Schaufensterbabe (an American in Berlin)

Hazelnuts

Hand Made Mommy (her name is Kari!)

An Apple A Day (NH love)

Clean (Hippy Love)

Oh Baby O (Her name is also Carrie! Are you detecting a trend?)


There are many, many more but I'll leave you with that ;}
Enjoy!

Something new and different.

I'm growing out my really real natural hair color for the first time in over 15 years. Are you ready for this world?

.... it's a lot grayer than I remember!!

zzz...Schlaf...zzzz...

Finally! FINALLY!  The baby's room is finished!



























Thank you to several people:
Chris, for drilling holes until you see them in your sleep.
Zak, for making that cool farm crate shelf.
Meagan, for helping me haul that dresser home!
Katie, for shipping me the HUGE mosquito net (that we actually use because we don't have screens and the flies can be very bad.)
And to anyone who gave or made us the bits and pieces to put it all together~ I love it so much and know Johnny will too as he grows up!



Because I made such a big deal of it before he was born, here's a run-down of the room:

Purchased new- carpet ($35), shelf (5 Euro), paint ($20), flying duck (15 Euros), curtains (9 Euros), name license plate ($12?), sheep blanket (10 Euros).
Purchased handmade- horseshoe rack ($25), standing duck (13 Euros), car toys (6 Euro), dino puppet (30 Euros) chenille rabbit ($25).
Purchased used- mosquito net ($5), crib ($100), Bambi riding toy ($6).

Everything else we either already had, was gifted to us, we found or made! That brings the grand total to about $350.00 over a span of 18 months! That includes his clothing as well, which is all second hand or gifts. A bed set alone goes for about that!

So, quite proud really :) The one thing that's missing from these photos it his crib quilt that Katie made, buy I assure you it fits in nicely!

Spielen!

Okay, remember the before? I hope so, since it was posted all of two hours ago ;)

Here is the after!

                       

Complete with hanging toy organizer,

monogrammed book sling,

and a short shelf for short people~

Kudos to Chris's mom for bringing that rocking horse all the way here in her suitcase! ;D

This old (crappy, German) house.

After five yeas of living in our estimated 600 year old house, I'm SO fed up! So unorganized, so falling apart, so... undone (the house, not me...). But we only have two years left and I can't bear the thought of moving the whole family right now. I'd love some huge barn house nearer to the river, with more than one kitchen so the compound (our self-proclaimed center of fun) would have room to grow. Maybe an old gasthause? An indefinite stay in Germany would warrant such a find, but for now I need to just bite the bullet and make this place as bearable as possible. After all, there are many fine points to living here including nearly an acre of yard and two (two!) garages. Also, a creepy cellar that is fun to take weary guests into.

I was on a roll with the improvements until J decided naps were overrated. We might be back on schedule but I'm not holding my breath. You'd think I may have done these 'improvements' in the four years before we had a rugrat underfoot most of the day...

Anyway. First on the list was my old Kühlschrank. I bought it last spring and have been meaning to repaint it.



I'm fascinated with chalkboard paint but all our walls are covered in nasty textured wallpaper so it's out of the question, for the most part. Repainting the front of the fridge with it allows a place for Johnny to be creative a little later on, and a place for me to jot down quick notes when I can't find a pen (which is always). Plus it's cool looking. ;)



Then there were the canisters my grandma gave me, which never held what the label proclaimed on the outside... A little printable iron-on paper, some fabric and thread and they were good to go! I also purchased two more from Etsy, just to add storage space to the counter top.





Next, we tackle the play corner, here's a little preview (eep!)



Bet you can't wait to see what I do with that mess!

Back to the grind.

We are no longer on vacation, obviously. I have just been avoiding the internet at almost all costs, including at the cost of my beloved blog.
We had an amazing, relaxing, productive trip to the US, and are finally re-settled back here in Germany.
Time OFF the internet has been spent home-improving and 'staycationing' around these parts. We even visited a castle and hiked two hours in the wrong direction looking for a waterfall one day. You know, good old family connecting activities :)

This is the castle, Burg Eltz:



And this is Johnny on Weekly Ice Cream Night #2, eating Banane Sorbet in Bernkastle:



Let me tell ya... Summer in Europe sure is rough!

We're getting close to his first birthday! Only a little over two months. No decision yet on whether we'll throw a real party or not, we may wait until he's older and understands more before we start that, is that bad?

I have a lot to write about and many, many pictures to share, but I also have some things to sew and laundry to do before J wakes up from his nap. Love you all very much!!